Drying-machine for alimentary pastes.



A. TEGOLB.

DRYING MAGHINE FOR ALIMENTARY PAS TESP APPLICATION FILED MAY 24. I916.

lm mw, Patented Jan. 30,1917.

AUGUST TEGOLI, OF S TA ROSA, CALIFORNIA, ASSTGNOR T0 TEGULI DRYING APPA-EAT US MANUFACTURING COMPANY, LTD., A CORPORATION 015' GALlUE'GRlh'TA.

DRYING-MACHINE F013. ALIMENTARY PASTES.

Specification of Letters Patent. v

Patented Jan, 36 rear,

Application filed my 2%, 1916. Serial No. 99,619.

. the following is a specification, reference be ing had to theaccompanying drawings.

This invention relates to improvements in' drying machines andparticularly machines for drying alimentary pastes used in themanufacture of macaroni, spaghetti, vermicelli, etc.

The general object of this invention is the provision of a dryingmachine in which the paste can be quickly and uniformly dried withoutcausing the paste to crack the dryin process.

A urther object of the invention is the provision of amachine of thischaracter in which the fresh air entering the machine is a uniformlydistributed so that no one .por-

tion 'of the paste is subjected to a greater action than another portionand further that fresh airentering the drying room may be thoroughlymixed with warm air which has been previously passed through the dryingchamber.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of means wherebyfresh air ma; be drawn through the drying room or compartment withoutintermixture with air previously drawn through the compartment or dryingroom.

Y Still another object is to provide means whereby the relatively warmair may be carried directly downward into any one of a series of racksupporting trucks.

Other objects will appear in the course of the following specification.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein, Figure1 is a vertical sectional view of a drying machine constructed.inaccordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectionalview thereof.

As will be seen by reference to these drawings, 1'0 designates a dryingchamber or one end of the drying room 10 is an exhaust ,fan 14: disposedin an opening in a partition 15, this exhaust fan being mounted upon ashaft 16 driven in any suitable manner, said shaft being located in whatI will call the circulating chamber 17. There is a window 18in the endof the circulating chamber 17. This window constitutes a more or lessadjustable closure to regulate the passage of air fromthe circulatingchamber 17.

' The chamber 10 is disposed in a relatively large room or chamber 19 ofwhich the circulating chamber 1'} forms part. This chamber 19 extends atone end to form the circulating chamber above described and at the otherend to form the circulating chamber 2O. The end wall of the circulatingchamber 20 is formed with louvers 21, through which fresh air passes.The end wall of the chamber 10 adjacent the louvers 21 is also formedwith louvers 22. The chamber 19 extends abovethe top wall of thechamber10 in the form of an air passage designated 23, which leads from thecirculating chamber '17 to the circulating chamber 20 and at oppositeends this'air passage 23 is provided with the controlling doors 24 and25 whichare so mounted that they may be independently shifted eitherinto a vertical position preventing the circulation of air along thepassage 23 or disposed in a horizontal posltion, as illustrated inFig.1, permitting' thecirculation of air.. I Also disposed in the topwall of the chamber 10 are the. fiues 26, each formed with a hingedcover 27, means being provided whereby these covers may be opened orclosed.

The chamber 10 is designed-to contain a plurality of trucks, certain ofthe trucks, as for instance the trucks 12, being arranged to supportwhat is known as long paste and,

to this end being provided with a plurality of rods 28. Certain othertrucks, as for instance-the trucks 13 are formed with trays havingbottoms of wire network, upon which may be laid what is known as coilpaste.

In practical use, the air is drawn into chamber 10 by means of theexhaust fan 14, air being drawn through the louvers 21- and 22, theselouvers acting to thoroughly distribute the air so. that no one portionof the paste which is to be dried, will be subjected to more air thanany other portion. Under normal circumstances, the exhaust fan 14 willdraw the air in the direction of the arrows in Fig. 1 and then force theair up into the air trunk or passage 23, the airtraveling back alongthis passage and passing into the circulation chamber 20 where it mixeswith the fresh air in the chamber 20 and passes through the louvers 22and back into the chamber 10. If it be desired to draw entirely freshair through the chamber 10 and not intermix this fresh air with the'airpreviously drawn through thechamber 10, then the door 24 is closed andif it be desired to cause the air to pass from the chamber 10 into thepassage 23 and then'down'through any of the fines 26, the door 25 isclosed and one or more of the doors 27 are opened, whereupon the airwill passdirectly downward on to the paste and will-"continue tocirculate without a great deal of mixture of the fresh air. In dryingpaste of the character described,

it is necessary that'the fresh paste shall be subjected to relativelywarm and moist currents of air so that it will not be dried too quickly.This may be readily accomplished with my-machine, by permitting the aironce drawn through the drying chamber 10 to pass again and again throughthe drying "chamber. Then after the paste is dried a sufficient amount,so .that it will not crack, the air passage 23 may be closed up byshutting the door or valve 24: and the air drawn entirely through thelouver 21 'so as to subject the paste to currents of relatively cool dryair which will dry the paste more quickly. It will be seen that therapidity with which the airpasses through the paste and the rapiditywith which the fresh air is drawn through the chamber will depend uponthe extent with which the window 18 is opened and that even the passageof air throughthe-trunk'23 may be regulated by regulating the extent towhich the doors 24 and; 25 are opened. Ordinarily, these doors 24; and-25 w1ll be either closed or opened. Under many circumstances, it is notdGSiI'B:

,ble to have a very. great volume of air drawn longitudinally throughthe chamber 10 as thisma'y tend toblow about the strings of alimentarypaste so'that they will become crumpled brjtwisted and adhere to eachother. This is avoided 'by allowing the air to pass downward through theopenings 26. The air maybe allowed to pass downward through theseopenings 26 and also through the-full length ofi the passage 23 and inthrough the louver 22. It is also obvious that means may be provided inconnection with the louver 21 for regulating the amountof freshair whichmay be drawn in. I have shown for this purpose a series of shutters 28which may be readily adjusted to reduce the area of the openings throughwhich fresh air passes. It is to be understood, of course, that thecapacity of the chamber 10 may. be

- of the plant.

greatly increased over what has been illustrated, depending entirelyupon the capacity For the purpose prior to its entrance into thecirculating chamber 20, I provide the steam pipes 29 which may be in theform of a radiator or any other suitable appliance which will uniformlyheat the air, these steam pipes being shown as extending verticallyupward through the chamber 20. On days where the fresh air is damp andcold, the dampers 28 are closed or nearly closed and ifiethat case theair is allowed to circulate continuously through the drying chamber, theair passage 23 and back into the drying chamber,the air being warmed bythe steam pipes. Any

of warming the freshai r fresh air which may be allowed to enter is alsowarmed and to a certain extentdried by the steam pipes. 'Where the airis toodry, as at the beginning of the drying opera tion, when too quickdrying is to be. prevented, the shutters or dampers 28, may be.

closed and the air is continuously circulated through the drying chamberand the circulating chambers, the air being" slightly dampened bycontact with the drying paste and being warmed by contact with the warmpaste. After the paste has been initially dried, however, in the mannerabove described,'it is possible to further and quickly passage 23 andallowing fresh air'to pass entirely through the drying chamben Thlsfresh air may be warmed or not,--as desired,

by means of the radiators 29 or other heat appliances of any suitableconstruction, ra diators however, being preferred. It is obviousthatwhere cool air is desired the radiators can be shut off.

. dry by cuttingofi the entrance to the air While I have referredthroughout the specification to the fact that this machine isparticularly used for drying alimentary" pastes, it is to be understoodthat the maone end of the drying chamber for moving air-therethrough,means for admitting fresh air to the circulating chamber located at theopposite end of the drying chamber from, said air moving means, meansfor controlling the passage of air through any one of said openings fromthe air passage into the drying chamber, and means for preventing theinlet of air into either or both ends of the air pmage from eithercirculating chamber.

naiaaee 2. A drying apparatus including a v1 chamber ateach end of thedrying chamber,

an air passage connecting the circulating chamber, means for causing airto flow through the chamber in'one direction, means for closing one orboth ends of the air passage to prevent the passage of air there--through, means for permittlng air. from the air passage to enter thedrying chamber directly at a plurality of points, and means for mixingfresh air with the air already used prior to the entrance of this airinto the drying chamber.

3. A drying apparatus comprising a drying.chamber open at opposite endsand having charging doors and side walls, circulating chambers, one ateach end of the drying chamber, a suction fan' at one end of the dryingchamber discharging into the adjacent c rculating chamber, a passageconnecting the circulating chambers, a louver at the end of-the dryingchamber opposite the 'fan,

, and a louver in the wall of the adjacent circulating chamber, andmeans for permit ting or preventing the passageof air along said airpassage.

4; A drying apparatus including a drying chamber open at opposite ends,air circulating chambers at opposite ends of the drying chamber, one ofsaid circulating chambers being provided with a controllable out-. let,means drawing air through the drying chamber and discharging it into thelastnamed circulating chamber, controllable means for admitting freshair into the 0pposite circulating chamber, a louver admitting air fromsaid last named circulating chamber into the end of the drying chamberopposite the air drying means, an'air,

passage connecting the circulating chambers, and a door in said passage,in one position permitting the circulation of air therethrough and inthe other position pre-- venting said circulation.

. 5. A drying apparatus including a drying chamber open at oppositeends, circulating chambers disposed one at each end of the dryingchamber, a suction fan 'at one end to of the drying chamber anddischarging into the circulating chamber at the other end of signaturein t the drying chamber, the other circulating chamber having means foradmitting fresh air thereto, a louver in the adjacent end of the dryingchamber, an air passage connecting the circulating chambers andextending over the top of the drying chamber, controllable doors atoppesite ends of'the air passage, said air passage having open ingsextending into the drying chamber and disposed at spaced intervals, andmeans for controlling the passage of air downward through said openings.

6. A drying apparatus comprising a drying chamber having doors at itssides, the

drying chamber being open at its ends,

trucks movable into the drying chamber and having-paste drying racks,circulating chambers disposed one at each end of the drying chamber, asuction fan drawing ,air through the drying chamber and discharg ing itinto. the adjacent circulating chamber, a controllable air dischargefrom 'thelast named circulating chamber, a. louver'admitting air to theother circulatingchamber,

a louver disposed in theend wall of the drying chamber opposite the"fan, an air] passage connecting the circulating chambers andextendingover the top ofthe drying chamber, and means for nreventing orpermitting the passage of air through the air passage. v

7. A paste drying apparatus including a drying chamber open at oppositeends, means for causing air to flow through the chamber in onedirection, means for directing the: air so drawn through the chamherback to the entrance thereof or prevent ing such return of the air,means for permitting the air drawn through the chamber to be directedintothedrying chamber at a plurality of points, means for mixing freshair with the air already used prior to its entrance into thechamber,'and means for heating the fresh air prior to its entrance intothe drying chamber.

In testimony1 whereof I hereunto afix my e presence of two witnesses. IAUGUST TEGOLI. Witnesses:

A. L. PODESTA A Gi. snow:-

